On the way to becoming the strongest, I first became a popular person.

Chapter 114 Hunger

Mottled walls and dim lights.

It's that dream again.

"Eleven, I'm so hungry. Am I going to die? I heard that many children before starved to death." Shi Chu felt someone gently pulling his right hand.

She looked down at the child in front of her. She looked about eight or nine years old, leaning weakly against the wall, her skinny body wrapped in thin and tattered clothes, her cheeks deeply sunken, only her eyes emitting light, full of desire to live.

She looked around and saw that the space was full of children like this. Hundreds of children were crammed into the small space. Some were sitting, some were leaning, and some were lying. Most of them had a pair of empty eyes on their pale and skinny faces. They looked like zombies, without a trace of life.

Suddenly, there was a burning pain in her stomach, as if there was a fire burning. The terrible pain made her want to bend down.

I’m hungry. I’m so hungry.

The hunger that penetrated her soul made her lose consciousness instantly. Her real body seemed to feel this terrible hunger, curled up tightly and began to tremble.

"I'm going to go out for a while." The body pursed its cracked lips, and Shi Chu heard himself say this.

"Eleven, don't sneak out. You'll get scolded."

"It's okay, I won't go outside and will be back soon. Don't tell anyone else, Seventeen." Eleven patted the child comfortingly, then slipped out quietly.

Shi Chu followed Eleven and found that Eleven seemed to have a destination. He walked slowly towards a place and soon came to a half-open door not far away.

Eleven seemed to be hesitating about something, and at this moment, she heard the sound of two people talking in the room.

"The Alliance is really going to be finished, and humanity is doomed! Look, there are only so many supplies and so little food this year, how are we going to survive?" A sharp female voice angrily accused.

"Don't be angry, Chen Xiao. You know the difficulties the alliance is facing now. The front line is in such a situation, but they can still give us some supplies. The alliance has done its best." Another gentle voice sounded.

"Lanyin, to be honest, I really don't understand why you came to the orphanage. You come from a wealthy family, so why do you take the trouble to serve these troublesome little devils?"

"If I were you, I would run away by myself. Who would care about these troublesome little devils? All they do every day is cry and eat! With so little food, they can't last through the winter, and they're always hungry. If you hadn't used all your connections to get some supplies from the family, they would have starved to death!" Chen Xiao cursed, and her stomach suddenly made a series of loud noises.

"Aren't we hungry? Really, you just cause trouble all day long and make us worry!"

"Okay, I know you have a sharp tongue but a soft heart. You say you dislike them, but you're still staying in the orphanage. I've never seen you leave." Lan Yin said slowly.

"Bullshit! That's because I have no money and no power! If I had a family behind me, I would have fled on a spaceship. Who would stay here and wait to die, and have to serve a bunch of little brats? Looking at the current situation of the alliance, we will all be finished in less than three years!" Chen Xiao ignored her words and continued to curse.

"I thought I could live a peaceful life without any talk of wealth and glory, but now I have no food to eat every day. I might die any day. It's all because of this damn star beast that ruined my life!"

"Damn it, this is a shitty life! If I was born earlier, I could enjoy a few decades of quiet life, and die like this when I'm old without any regrets. If I were born later, maybe all of humanity would be extinct, and there wouldn't be any such worries! Now I'm stuck in the middle, and my life is worse than death!"

"Please save your energy. There are still dozens of children whose clothes have not been sewn."

"Hmph! That's what I want to say. You're already half dead, and you won't let me say a few words." Chen Xiao cursed but didn't stop what he was doing.

"Okay, okay, you say it and I listen."

The two people in the room continued talking, and no one noticed a piece of white skirt passing through the half-open door.

"Eleven, you're back?" Seventeen said in surprise, struggling to get up from the ground.

The girl, who was shorter and thinner than her, only exerted a little force to stop her movements.

"Did you go to see the dean? Did she say anything?" Seventeen looked at her hopefully.

Although Eleven is the youngest, she doesn't cry or make a fuss and is the most popular child in the orphanage. If she had begged for mercy, they might have been able to get a little more food instead of having to survive on just a little bit of food every day and feeling like they were going to die of hunger.

Shi Chu realized that the child named Seventeen had said that to Eleven on purpose. She wanted to survive, so she hoped that Eleven would go and plead for her. However, from the conversation between the two, the orphanage had no more food, and the remaining food might not be enough for them to survive the winter.

Eleven was silent for a long time and shook his head gently.

The light in Seventeen's eyes disappeared instantly, and she collapsed helplessly. Eleven said that there was no way, and the orphanage was really in a desperate situation. How many days could she live? Living in such pain every day, she would soon become like those people, a walking corpse, and then suddenly die one day.

Eleven sat down beside her silently and quietly handed her a handful of things.

Seventeen took a sneak peek when no one was paying attention, and saw a few red fruits lying quietly in the skinny palm. They were Pyracantha fruits.

Only then did she notice the mud stuck on Eleven's body and the scratches on his arms and legs. Eleven must have run to the back mountain to pick fruit, where wild beasts often roamed and even the dean and the others would not go there.

Her eyes were slightly red, and her throat seemed to be blocked by something. Her heart was filled with warmth and bitterness. Her voice was trembling as she whispered, "Eleven, I'm not hungry. Don't go there again next time. It's very dangerous."

She tugged at the girl's sleeve and looked at her firmly, waiting for her answer.

"it is good."

Seventeen then breathed a sigh of relief. She did have some selfish motives, but she didn't want anyone else to get into trouble because of her. She just wanted to survive, and if possible, she wanted everyone to survive well.

The two children held hands tightly, and they leaned against each other, snuggling together for warmth in this cold and ruthless winter day.

The familiar darkness emerged again, drowning everything.